Mr. H. K. Trevaskis describes his able and thoughtful book,
The Land of the Five Rivers (Oxford University Press, 15s.), as an economic history of the Punjab up to 1890. It is, in fact, a good deal more, since it sketches the early history of India and gives a compact account of the Sikhs. But its main feature is a critical exposition of British land adminis- tration in the Punjab. The author, who has been Director of Land Records, shows in detail how the application of Eng- lish legal principles to Oriental conditions of land-tenure enabled Hindu usurers to dominate and ruin the majority of the Moslem and Sikh peasants in the Punjab. The Indian Government was actuated by the best intentions and guided by the most admirable theories, and it took no notice of the district officers like Thorbum, who knew the people and saw the mischief that was being done. Of late years wiser councils have prevailed, but the story deserved to be told anew in this authoritative fashion. Mr. Trevaskis' book may be commended to all serious students of Indian problems.
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